[dachworker]

So basically, if you're an individual, or a contractor who reinvests their earnings into the housing market, you face two challenges: getting competitive financing, and finding a plot of land to build on.

Question: is finance screwing up capitalism? Real estate is supposed to be one of the most competitive and dynamic markets. If you can turn even this very simple and basic market into a quasi-monopoly, then there is something fundamentally wrong with the whole economy. And it seems all fingers point to Wall Street.

[lotsofpulp]

Real estate is not competitive nor dynamic because of the disproportionately low property (specifically land value) tax that property owners pay relative to the utility they get from society (police/military and courts to protect their land as well as myriad other policies that ensure a stable society).

Simply hoarding land should not be profitable, and yet it is one of the most profitable businesses because of subsidies (too low property taxes, 1031 exchange, various “farming” and other exemptions).

[kjkjadksj]

You don’t have to be the sole investor. Say you can afford to invest $10k. You could try and find a 2k plot to put a 8k garden shed on. Or you can put that 10k in a REIT and get a gain.